Screw Guernsey

If I remember correctly, it's not on dog bones (at least mine wasn't). The shock just went straight from the frame to the swingarm. I used to have a list of shock lengths / eye sizes. I'll see if I can find it and post it on here.

Time will tell! Fortunately we've got a massively fast 35mph speed limit over here (just a guideline, obviously!!) so hopefully it won't get too much grief. Also, I don't think torque will be a problem - it is only a 535, after all! Hopefully there will be some more updates soon. With any luck the exhaust and inlet manifold should now be done, so should be just a case of sticking the carb on (single SU carb from an old mini), bang it on the dyno and set it up, then out on the road!! (Just in time for winter!! )

Everything cleaned and painted, wiring started: Nearly there: Off to have the exhaust and inlet manifold fabricated: Should be back with me for finishing touches soon!

I picked up a Virago 535 in a very poor state of affairs: And my mate had a hardtail frame: So I thought I'd let him loose with the 2 and see what he could do. Virago stripped: Engine and forks on the frame: Rear hub integrated into the frame:

She's not by any chance W.I.T.C.H. is she?

I don't intend to. The rumours keep flying around that it's going to be phased out, but they've been flying around for years!! I've got my fingers crossed though!!

Ah, that's the joy of sunny Guernsey - I'm still running a rider policy. Any bike, any cc, mine or someone else's, garaged or not, modified or not - £190 p/a Fully Comp!!

That's coming together nicely! Looking forward to seeing the finished bike!

Quite a lot of people, apparently! Supposedly it makes it look like a race bike!! The pipes only hang that low so that the fluid that overflows clears the frame and engine components, they aren't instrumental in actually drawing fluid out.

The done thing these days is to run them into an old drinks bottle or can that's strapped to the frame. It tidies them up, and makes a feature of it. This kind of idea:

Yeah, that's pretty normal. There will be one battery breather, one fuel tank breather, and probably one coolant breather.

Cheers. It's getting a bit tired now, and I keep looking for another combination, but they're either too expensive, or just don't look right! I'm just not overly keen on the more modern looking sidehacks. Ideally, I'd like a proper Ural outfit, but they don't come up in good nick and really really cheap very often!

If it's not too late, I'll go for a black in double fat bastard (XXL) size please!! (Purely for the length, obviously!)

Religion is like a penis, It's fine to have one, It's OK to be proud of it, But you should not get it out in public and start waving it around, And it's just wrong to try to shove it down others throats, especially children !!

Got a couple of bike rallies this weekend, so may have to imbibe a couple of frosty ones!

I find that hard to believe!! You're obviously approaching the wrong people!!! Welcome in from a fellow newbie, and a fellow Virago owner!

Or how's this for a Religion?! LINKEY

What's road tax?!?! And on the same lines, what's an MOT?!?!

You've got a bulletproof bike there - my XJ600N never let me down. The XJ600S that I got given hadn't been started in over 2 years. Put some fresh juice in, realized it had all fallen out of the big hole in the bottom, put a fresh tank on (thanks ebay!) more fresh fuel and a fresh battery and it started after about 10 seconds and ran like a dream! I have heard of examples used by bike couriers with 250k miles plus on them and still going strong.

Started on a KE100 at 14 (although you can only ride a 50cc now at 14, when I started, it was up to 100cc at 14 and unlimited cc at 16!) - that beat a pushbike hands down! Moved on to a KLR250 at 16, put 9000 miles on it in a year (on an island that's only 9 x 5 miles!) then sold it to buy a car. Was bikeless for a couple of years, then picked up a 1981 XV750SE with the usual starter problems, ran that for a year or so, then flogged it on to my mate and bought a 1979 XS750 with my old man, and, when other bikes came and went, that stayed with me for 14 years till I sold it last year. It went through many guises, and ended up as a Cafe-rat-bob! Now running a Kawasaki GT550 with a sidecar as my everyday commuter Just finished my Virago 750 Bobber (till the winter when I plan to strip it and clean and paint the frame, swingarm etc and probably replace the exhaust And my Virago 535 is nearly done - just waiting on the 2-1 exhaust, and 1-2 inlet manifold to be made. The latest pic I have of it (although it's a lot more finished now!)

Previously: KE100 KLR250 RM465 XV750SE TDM850 KTM640SM SPEED TRIPLE Z200 XS750 XJ600N Rat XJ600S FZR1000 Ratfighter Currently: Kawasaki GT550 sidecar outfit Virago 535 Hardtail Chop Virago 750 Bobber

Hi all. I'm Simon, commonly known as Screw. I live in sunny Guernsey in the Channel Islands. Can't believe I've not joined before - been on Yams for years!